Fri Jan 4 08:41:14 2008

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Azarenka, Li advance to Gold Coast final

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Gold Coast, Australia (Sports Network) - Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and China's Li Na won semifinal matches on Friday and will play for the title at the Australian Women's Hardcourts.

Azarenka cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over fifth-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel, while Li rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph over fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. Schnyder won this Australian Open tuneup event in 1999 and 2005.

Saturday's title match will be the third for Azarenka, who is still trying for her first career WTA singles crown. She lost in the final at Estoril and Tashkent last year.

Li has just one WTA singles crown to her credit, winning at Guangzhou in 2004. She was also a finalist at Estoril in 2005 and 2006.

Azarenka and Li will meet for the first time.